Thanks Michael, I'll do as you suggest.

I'm at the stage where I commence my court proceedings online tomorrow. If I'm claiming against the Halifax for a number of accounts do I have to list them separately/make claims for each one or do I lump it all together as one claim amount but list each account number/amount claimed separately etc.?

Hi Roz I sent my S.A.R. and £10 fee off on 13th September, received a letter dated 13th October to say that my statements had been ordered and received them yesterday, 18th October. You might therefore have another 7 days or so to wait. Mark

I sent my S.A.R. off on 13th September.

Hi I received 112 envelopes today containing all my statements for 4 accounts. In my haste I got my marker pen out and highlighted all the charges (about £3500 worth). I then kept all the statements with the charges highlighted on them, bundled the rest into a bag, went outside and proceeded to burn all the statements that I assumed weren't required in our chimnea. I had myself a lovely time, beer at my side, feet up, all nice and cosy next to the roaring fire! It gave me so much pleasure to think how much work it had taken someone at the Halifax to put all those statements into the envelopes (I'm assuming that it's not mechanised). I've now started to look into how I go about preparing my schedule of charges and I'm thoroughly confused but also feeling stupid that I've destroyed ALL the statements. I'm thinking that I need all the statements to calculate overdraft interest. Am I correct? The template for the preliminary letter states 'charges+interest'. How do I calculate this interest figure? Am I now just better off requesting a refund of charges without interest and just add the 8% on if I have to take it to court? Sorry if I'm being a bit thick!

This information might be of interest to anyone who is being threatened with a Default Notice on an account on which they are claiming back charges. I have an account for which I sent off my S.A.R. letter on 13th September. I received a letter on 6th October from David Gledhill, Customer Care Manager, Halifax Retail Bank Collections, stating that a Default would be registered against me on 12th October. I have just called their Legal Department and asked if a Default should still be registered if an account is in formal dispute? I was told that it should as the Credit Reference Agencies need to be kept informed of the status of the account. I explained that the current Banking Code (Section 13.6) states: We may give information to Credit Reference Agencies about the personal debts you owe us if: * You have fallen behind with your payments, * The amount owed is not in dispute; and * You have not made proposals we are satisfied with for repaying your debt, following our formal demand. So therefore, as the account is obviously in dispute they should not be giving any information to the Credit Reference Agencies and registering a Default. She agreed and suggested that I should call David Gledhill. I have just called him and as a result of giving him this information he has put a stop on the Default action. This will save me a lot of hassle now as I am intending to open a new account away from the Halifax and will mean that I don't have to go through the process of ensuring that a Default is removed. Anyone who has an account that is in dispute and is being threatened with a Default Notice can prevent it from happening.

Hi Bluecloud Thanks for your reply. Can I not get them to stop the default and/or certainly prevent them from registering it with credit reference agencies at this stage? I'd rather stop them doing it now than have to refer to it later in my prelim/L.B.A. 's?

Can anyone answer this question please? I have an account in dispute and for which I have sent off off my S.A.R. They have 18 days left in which to send me my statements. The Halifax sent out a Default Notice letter on 14th September (the exact same day that they received my S.A.R. by the way!) stating that the default is due to register on 12th October. I wrote to them stating that I was in the process of obtaining a refund of the charges on the account and that as the account/amount was therefore formally in dispute, under the Banking Code (section 13.6), they should not pass any details of the account to Credit Reference Agencies. (Section 13.6 states: We may give information to Credit Reference Agencies about the debts you owe us if: * You have fallen behind with your payments; * The amount owed is not in dispute; and * You have not made proposals we are satisfied with for repaying the debt, following our formal demand.) I have received another letter from them this morning stating that: "The default notice was sent to you on 14th September 2006 and is due to register on the 12th October. This is the time when it will be sent to our debt recovery agents Blair, Oliver & Scott, and will also register with the credit reference agencies." Should they be continuing to say that they are going to register the default and tell the credit reference agencies? As the account/amount is in dispute are they not obliged under this section of the Banking Code to wait until a decision has been reached on the account?

Hi Karen Thanks for your reply. I wonder if, by handing in your S.A.R. at a branch, that they deal with it at branch level on a quicker timescale? Or did they say that they would be sending it on to their Head Office?

Hi Everyone I had a call this morning from Halifax's Banking Collections Dept trying to get me to pay off the excess overdraft on one of our accounts. The fees/charges they have added to this account are far in excess of the overdraft in question. I told him that the amount was in dispute and that I had sent off a S.A.R. on 13th September and I was therefore going to do nothing, certainly not give them any money. He didn't appear to want to listen to my explanation because no matter what I said he kept asking me how much I could pay off! Are these people on commission? He eventually got the message. I told him that it was a farce that he wasn't aware that the account/amount was in dispute. He agreed and asked if I could ring the Customer Relations Department to get them to put a stop on any further calls regarding the overdraft and to halt the default action! I thought why not as it would also give me chance to chase up my S.A.R. I called and spoke to a Neil Burbidge. He said he would put the stops on telephone calls and postpone the default action. I then asked if I could be put through to the department that would have ultimately received my S.A.R. He went away for 5 minutes and came back stating that it was the Data Protection Team that would deal with the S.A.R. I said can I speak to them directly? He went away to ask his manager. He came back and said that the only numbers available to contact them were internal lines only and not open to customers! I insisted that I wanted to ensure that my S.A.R. had been received. He said that he would speak to them. He went away again (great Customer Relations) and came back on 5 minutes later. He said that they were currently dealing with Augusts requests, that they did not acknowledge receipt of S.A.R.s and that they had 40 days to deal with them anyway! I told him that I was aware of the 40 day time limit but had expected at least some form of acknowledgement. On reflection I should have known better. This is the Halifax that we're dealing with after all. Has anyone been able to call this Data Protection Team directly or had an acknowledgement of receipt of their S.A.R.? I can only imagine that they simply pile the S.A.R.'s up as they come in and do them in date order. Anyway I've sent them a chase up letter today just to let them know that I'm on their case. I still can't see the statements coming soon though. Fingers crossed.

I have looked through FAQ's but can't find the answer to the following: Myself and my partner have just received a 'Default notice served under section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974' on one of our Halifax accounts. It is asking us to pay £805.49 by 13th October or they will close the account and demand immediate payment or take us to court. I have started the procedure to reclaim the excessive charges on this account and others by sending off a PDA request letter + £10 fee to them on 13th September. Do I do anything about the Default Notices at this stage by writing to them telling them that I will be doing nothing as I am in dispute with them over this account and others or do I have to let them register a default against us and then make it a condition of any settlement later on that they completely remove it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi neilbass Thanks for your reply and advice. I got straight onto the Halifax this a.m. and tried to get through to the idiot who had upset my partner. No such luck. I told the woman I spoke to that I was taking them to the Small Claims Court and therefore not to put a stop on the savings account. She said that she would put a note on the records confirming my conversation and to arrange for the stop to be removed (so it was on already!). I'll ring again on Monday and as soon as the stop has been taken off we'll be closing the account and going elsewhere. Chances are it will take more than one call to get the stop taken off! Apparently the idiot who upset my partner said he would be ringing back today. I just hope he does and I'm in! I'd like to see his smug face change when I spoil his plans by telling him I'm taking his company to court and that as a result he can take the stop off our savings account so that I can take the money out!! Regards markj1960

Hi to everyone on this site. I have arrived here this a.m. after doing various internet searches looking for the exact service that this forum/group offers. This came about as a result of a phone call which I and my partner received yesterday from the Banking Arrears Dept of Halifax PLC. We have had financial problems over the past 4/5 years and the Halifax mortgage is in arrears and we have an overdraft of £1500 on a current account (agreed overdraft limit is £500). Most of this £1500 is made up of £39 and £28 fees/charges which I had refused to pay. The chap from the Halifax basically wanted to get my partner to transfer £1500 from an account which she has been using to save money in for our sons education (we just don't want to touch it because it has been money given to him by family members for this specific purpose). She refused and he became quite aggressive to such an extent that she ended up in tears. I blasted this chap down the phone and basically told him to go and **** himself and slammed the phone down on him. Lo and behold he rings back later in the day (I am out at this time) and tells my partner that they will put a stop on the savings account unless she uses money from it to clear the overdraft on the current account. She told him that she wouldn't do anything without speaking with me first. I was blazing when she told me. She was all ready for going to the local branch this a.m. and doing what they had asked. I said HOLD ON because I was sure that I had read about a young man who had successfully brought a case against his bank and won back these excessive charges. After a few hours reading and researching here I am. And am I glad I found you!! I am going after them with all guns blazing!! You know what makes it worse? Both I and my partner used to work for the Halifax. I for 10 years and she for 25 years. This was back in the days when it was a Building Society and they dealt with customers on a personal basis and [edited: beware of potentially libelous comments, please] wasn't part of their daily routine. I have had bank accounts with them for over 25 years and a mortgage account for 18 years and my partner has had savings accounts with them for 40 years and 2 mortgages with them spanning 30 years. Yet they treat us like second class citizens because circumstances have meant that we have hit a bad patch in our lives. We are at rock bottom and they try and grind us even farther into the dirt by slapping these excessive charges on us. Last year we had a Maxim Current Account with a Solo card (cheque guarantee card) and cheque book. Out of the blue they sent new cards which were Electron (not a cheque guarantee card) cards. I rang to ask why and was told that we had been downgraded to B class savers and we couldn't have a cheque guarantee card any longer! Nice way to treat customers of theirs of over 60 years standing between us! About 4 weeks ago we had a knock on the door at about 7.00pm. It was a bloke from a debt management company based in Manchester who had been authorised by the Halifax to call at our home to fill in a financial statement because of the arrears on our mortgage. He came totally unannounced or invited. Who the hell do these people think they are. And do you know what? It was going to cost me £100 for the privilege. I am struggling with my mortgage payments and they send a total stranger out of the blue without any prior warning to spend 15 minutes filling in a sheet of paper and charge me £100. I said no way am I talking to you and paying £100. He said "can I make an appointment for next week?" I said o.k. but had no intention of letting him come round. I sent him packing and at the start of the following week rang him to cancel the appointment. I thought that was the end of the matter. Lo and behold the Halifax have debited my mortgage account with £100! I rang their Customer Relations Dept and was held in a queue for over 10 minutes. She said that she would have to get a more senior colleague to contact me. I am still waiting! And now here I am, having printed out all the FAQ's and other bits and pieces that I hope will be useful in my war against the Halifax. I now feel equipped to commence battle. I am sorry if I have gone on and on. It has been of huge benefit just being able to have a bit of a rant. Reading about all the success stories has given me a real boost. Thanks to you all.